Once one of the most overlooked intrastate conflicts, the Russian-Chechen conflict is finally making headlines throughout the world. For centuries, Chechnya has bitterly fought Russia for independence, resulting in innumerable deaths and human rights atrocities. In the past few years, Chechen terrorists have hijacked a Moscow theater, set off bombs in Moscow subways, hijacked Russian planes, and most recently took over an elementary school in Beslan, all of which have resulted in thousands of innocent deaths.
Russian soldiers have murdered and raped Chechen civilians, as well as turned Chechnya into an Palestinian-like atmosphere, with constant checkpoints and random searches. Now in the midst of a second brutal Russo-Chechen war, one must wonder why Russia is so vehement in preventing such a tiny, insignificant region from becoming independent. Unfortunately, pride is the answer.
The Soviet Union, 50 years ago, as well as the great Russian empires of Peter and Catherine the Great, were, during their respective times, some of the great superpowers of the world. The Soviet Union competed with the United States following World War II and was a industrial and technological giant. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia lost one-third of its land mass, falling from its place alongside the U.S. as one of the two world superpowers. Today, Russia is struggling to keep pace with America, the European Union and other emerging countries such as China. In other words, the last 15 years have seen Russia significantly decline in world status.
As a result, the idea of losing more land is absolutely unacceptable to President Vladimir Putin, even if relinquishing control of Chechnya could stop such horrible bloodshed.
Overzealous pride has fed the Russian desire to control Chechnya at any cost. Putin will argue that Chechnya is one of the most vital strategic and economic regions in the federation, as Chechnya is home to oil and natural resources. Pipelines also carry oil through Chechnya from Caspian Sea reserves to various European nations.
Yet the size of Chechnya relative to Russia shows how trite the region is in comparison to its motherland. Chechnya is roughly the size of Connecticut and is home to one million people. Russia is almost twice the size of the United States and is home to 145 million people. Chechnya's five thousand square miles is about 1/1300th of Russia's 6.6 million square miles! These mind-boggling numbers signify how incredibly tragic the crisis in Chechnya has become - how such turmoil and death have resulted from such a tiny region.
Yet the bottom line is that the tighter Russia's grip gets on Chechnya, the worse off both Russians and Chechens will be. More Chechens will turn to violence and martyrdom in response to Russian aggression in Chechnya and as a result, innocent Russians will continue to die in subways, theaters, and schools. Chechen villages will continue to be pillaged by Russian soldiers and the already desperate conditions in Chechnya will worsen. In the name of fighting terrorism, President Putin recently proposed measures that would allow him to appoint regional governors instead of the leaders being elected by popular vote, completely undermining the development of democracy in Russia. Now the Russian government is beginning to resemble a Stalin-esque authoritarian government.
The tragic events that occur daily in Chechnya and Russia seem to be a vicious cycle that have no end in sight. As Putin continues to make his decisions on the basis of fighting terrorism, he will get the support of the United States which will, in turn, make it very unlikely for Russia's actions in Chechnya to change. Russia simply needs a leader who can put aside the deep pride that exists in his country and relinquish control of Chechnya. What will result will not completely solve the conflict, but significantly fewer innocent people will lose their lives and a hope for peace can be established.<$>
